Globemasters take on heavy lifting.

• Position: Brief Article

Since the C-17 Globemaster became operational in 1995, 116 of them have been delivered to the Air Force and the Air National Guard. The manufacturer, the Boeing Company, of St. Louis, Mo., is scheduled to build a total of 180 of the mammoth transports by 2008.

The C-17 is 174 feet long. That's considerably shorter than Lockheed: Martin's 247 feet-long C5 Galaxy, but much lengthier than the 93-foot C-141 Starlifter and the 100-foot MC-130 Combat Talon.

Despite its size, however, the C-17 can take off and land on small, austere runways as short as 3,000 feet and only 90 feet wide. Such runways are typical of those that U.S. forces are encountering in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in the war on terrorism. Even on such narrow runways, the C-17 can turn around, using a three-point star turn and its backing ability. A loaded C-5, by comparison, requires 4,900 feet to land, and 12,200 feet to take off.

The C-17's...